Transcript

00:00:00

>>

FOREIGN]

> Now we must remember this country is suffering an awful economic crisis. Inflation is in triple digits. People are only maybe 5, 10, 20 dollars a month at the black market exchange rates. They're standing outside supermarkets in this sun for hours and hours every single day looking for basics such as pasta, rice or bread.

SOUND] M

name is Girish Gupta, and I'm here in Caracas for Reuters. Now the country's Supreme Court has essentially taken over the role of Congress. And that has huge ramifications in terms of democracy and separation of powers of course.

00:00:17

And it's especially important here, where the opposition control the Congress. This move has been criticized around the world. And even the country's attorney general who, for years, has stood behind this government has come out to say the Supreme Court's move went against the Constitution. That's a really huge deal in Venezuela.

00:00:36

The government officials do not speak out against the government.>>

00:00:59

>>

00:01:20

Millions of people are saying they're not eating properly. And many people are unhappy with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Now Maduro hasn't said too much about this particularly crisis, but he does blame many of the country's ills including the economic problems on the US and the opposition here.

00:01:36

He says they're waging an economic war against Venezuela. Now many people here and across the world's are calling this a coup. Protests have broken out all over Caracas today. Now the question is will they rise up and continue like they did in 2014 into a wave of months-long unrest?

00:01:53

Or will they fizzle out as they have done pretty much ever since then?